LETTER: All families have issues...even royals

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/AP.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/AP.

Published Mar 19, 2021

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by Yagyah Adams

Nobody is perfect and every family has issues that must be resolved within the family. To gain perspective, envisage your daughter-in-law going onto global TV to talk about your family issues.

Since no family is immune to or above controversy, the interview with Megan, Harry and Oprah needs introspection. For example, what family welcomes interracial or intercultural marriage without some anxiety? So what if the royal family questions the colour of the child? Is this enough to merit global outrage?

As I write this letter, millions of kids do not have regular access to food and water.

In South Africa, for centuries interracial marriage was criminal. When the police uncovered a liaison between a white and another, the other was jailed and the white was free. Nobody from our law enforcement who created and applied racist laws has ever been held liable for the suffering caused.

Today, society wants to act shocked and aghast at the alleged racism of the British royal family.

The focus of the media on peripheral stuff and not on issues that really matter requires analysis. For example, CNN, BBC, etc demand answers to the alleged racism within the royal household. Ironically, the same media depict Muslims as terrorists and consider this racism to be freedom of speech.

These media outlets have for decades portrayed Africa as a continent of ineptitude and futility. When Africans appear on TV, they are usually dancing to entertain or in a queue for a hand-out.

The sanctimonious umbrage against the entire royal family is deceitful. Why does the BBC and CNN not probe why the US, Britain, etc supply arms to those who obliterated Yemen? This created the greatest humanitarian crisis in our lifetime. Yemenis are starving to death amid a pandemic.

When Harry stated that killing Afghans from his helicopter was like playing “PlayStation and X Box”, the BBC, CNN and British tabloids portrayed Harry as a gallant hero defending his nation. Where was the umbrage about racism when Harry blasted unarmed Afghans from the comfort of his helicopter?

Why are some media permitted to inspire racism without liability? For years, the tabloids turned on Megan, as she was divorced and of mixed race. Why were the editors and reporters allowed to create a racist narrative that terrorised Harry and Megan? Nobody can live under the constant analysis of media that seek to find fault. It is inhuman. Why are the faults of some exposed but others are hidden?

Since some media subliminally dictate a racist narrative, the role of that media requires scrutiny.

* Councillor Yagyah Adams, Cape Muslim Congress

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

Cape Argus

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